This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

No more excuses for TFC

Dwayne De Rosario has never missed the playoffs in his eight seasons of Major League Soccer.

The newest addition to Toronto FC, Dwayne De Rosario, runs lines during a training test at the BMO Field in Toronto on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. It was the first day for camp for the soccer players. (RENE JOHNSTON / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

By Daniel GirardSports Reporter

Sat., March 21, 2009

Dwayne De Rosario has never missed the playoffs in his eight seasons of Major League Soccer.

Now, the four-time MLS Cup champion is being called on to keep that streak alive while wearing the uniform of his hometown team.

De Rosario, 31, a Scarborough native and Canadian international, is Toronto FC's biggest acquisition. He also represents the brightest hope for local sports fans suffering through a lost season by the Maple Leafs and Raptors, a maybe-next-year mantra from Blue Jays brass and a rebuilding Argonauts squad.

De Rosario, TFC's best-paid player at $357,000 (U.S.) a year, insists he's ready for the challenge of leading the turnaround of a team that finished last in the Eastern Conference in each of its first two seasons.

"I didn't come here to relax in my hometown," said the soft-spoken, 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound attacking midfielder acquired in a trade with Houston. "I came here to do one thing and that's win.

Article Continued Below

"If I don't do that, I'm not satisfied, regardless of how many goals and assists I have this season," De Rosario said this week before TFC flew to Kansas City to kick off the season tonight against the Wizards.

Same goes for the owners.

"The honeymoon is over," Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating office with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, said this week during a state-of-the-franchise address with TFC general manager Mo Johnston.

Explaining that "an expansion team kind of gets a free pass for a couple of years" because fans recognize it takes time to build, Anselmi said that as the team begins its third season there's much more of a focus on winning.

"We recognize that team performance is starting to get more and more important now," he said.

To that end, it has been a busy off-season for Johnston and his staff.

Trades, signings and draft picks have, on paper, made the team stronger from front to back.

While still looking to add "one more final piece" to the roster in the coming days, Johnston said there's a real "air of confidence" among the players going into the season.

"I think we can actually get to the playoffs and go from there," he said.

De Rosario, who had 51 goals and 42 assists in 186 games with San Jose and Houston, is one of a host of new faces in Toronto's lineup.

Newly acquired Argentine striker Pablo Vitti is expected to play up front with Chad Barrett, who came over from Chicago in a mid-season trade last year. With Vitti and Barrett at forward and De Rosario in midfield alongside returning Honduran international Amado Guevera and Englishman Rohan Ricketts, TFC is expected to improve on its 34 goals in 30 games last season, which was second-worst in the league.

"I can't really say we're going to go out and score 100 goals. I don't want to promise that," Barrett said. "But I definitely know there's going to be a different offensive spark up front this year."

On defence, another sore spot for TFC last year, especially in the latter part of the half and game, TFC last month added central defender Adrian Serioux of Scarborough in a trade from FC Dallas. But the Canadian international's debut may be delayed by a hip injury sustained in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, S.C., last weekend.

In addition to those trades and signings, TFC also had three picks in the first round of January's MLS SuperDraft. That netted midfielder Sam Cronin (2nd), striker O'Brian White of Scarborough (4th) and goalkeeper Stefan Frei (13th).

While White continues to rehab from a knee injury, Cronin and Frei have each enjoyed a strong pre-season and could start tonight.

"We got all the players that we wanted to get in. All the players that the fans wanted are now here," Barrett said. "So really, there's no excuses.

"The fans expect a lot out of this team. They expect a playoff-type team and that's what we want to give to them."

Coach John Carver, entering his second year, refused to make playoff predictions. But, he said, if TFC can improve by 10 points this year over last – as they did in 2008 compared to their inaugural year – then they would likely get a post-season berth.

Key to that improvement will be picking up points on the road, where TFC was 3-11-1 last season.

"The home record (6-2-7) was fantastic and can still be better," Carver said. "But we need to do something on the road and I need to put a team out there that's going to (do that)."

The first two games provide a tough test for the new-look TFC. After Kansas City, which made the playoffs last season, Toronto travels to Columbus next Saturday to take on the defending champion Crew.

Captain Jim Brennan, who has been with TFC from the beginning, said the difference is "night and day" between the approach to the expansion year and this one.

"We feel we've got a good side and we're going to make things happen."

Five stories to watch

•ECONOMICS 101

•CANADIAN CONTENT

•BYE BYE BECKS

•LABOUR RELATIONS

•SEATTLE ROCKS

Daniel Girard

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com